by Stephanie Cartozian Robert Nebolon grew up in Rancho Palos Verdes in a sprawling ranch style home that had two front doors because the house was so long.
By Mike Cummings
May 10, 2021
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Dean Deborah Berke
In September 2015, Deborah Berke was named dean of the Yale School of Architecture, becoming the first woman to lead the world-renowned institution.
As dean, Berke has led efforts to expand financial aid, established programs examining issues concerning environmental sustainability, recruited top-flight faculty, and forged collaborations with other schools and departments on campus. She was recently reappointed to a second five-year term as dean.
Berke, an accomplished architect who has taught at Yale for more than 30 years, recently spoke to YaleNews about her plans for her next term, which begins July 1. The interview has been edited and condensed.
By Jenny Blair
April 23, 2021
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The Ecological Living Module. (Photo by: David Sundberg / Esto Photographics)
Imagine a small house whose exterior is covered with planters full of ripe radishes, carrots, and lettuce. Indoors, another wall of plants stretches floor to ceiling. Their microbe-rich roots capture harmful air pollutants. If you touch the plants, beneficial microbes cross to you, possibly prompting a subtle shift of your own microbiome toward better health.
The house captures rainwater, purifying it on-site with solar energy. The entire structure is made of flaked-wood slabs that are strong enough to replace steel. Unlike steel, though, these slabs sequester carbon. The building can be taken apart, the slabs re-used elsewhere, or their carbon released to other organisms that keep it from re-entering the atmosphere.